Sigma Designs Announces Windows NT and DirectShow Support for DVD; REALmagic EM8300 DVD/MPEG-2 Decoder is First to Provide Windows NT and DirectShow Support.SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 1998--Sigma Designs Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :SIGM), a leader in MPEG decoder solutions for personal computers, today announced the planned release of support for Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:MSFT MSFT Microsoft (stock symbol) MSFT Movimento Sociale Fiamma Tricolore (Italy) MSFT Multi-Stage Fitness Test MSFT Master of Science in Family Therapy MSFT Macalester Students for Fair Trade ) Windows NT 4.0 and DirectShow software. The new software drivers, included in Sigma's EM8300 REALmagic DVD/MPEG-2 decoder chip, are being demonstrated at DVD-Day, an event sponsored by Panasonic Industrial Co. today. The drivers will be released to customers in October. Kilroy Hughes, Microsoft's DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. Evangelist, will demonstrate the technology during his presentation "DirectShow, Windows Media Player Digital jukebox software for Windows from Microsoft that plays a variety of audio, video and streaming formats including MP3, WMA, CD audio and MIDI. Starting with Version 6.2 in 1999, the Windows Media Rights Manager was added for securing copyrighted content. , & DVD/MPEG-2-The Driving Forces." Sigma's customized navigational software, "DVD Station," can play MPEG-2 content, including CSS-protected DVD titles, under Windows NT. DirectShow is Microsoft's standard for multimedia content under Windows 98, and is comparable to the MCI (1) (Media Control Interface) A high-level programming interface from Microsoft and IBM for controlling multimedia devices. It provides commands and functions to open, play and close the device. (2) (Microwave Communications Inc. (Multimedia Content Interface) used under Windows 95. The DirectShow Applications Programming Interface (API) is the industry standard used by designers to develop DVD titles and applications. Today's announcement means that Sigma Designs now supports both DirectShow and MCI. "Our EM8300 DVD/MPEG-2 decoder supports any DVD-RAM A rewritable DVD disc endorsed by the DVD Forum. Using phase change technology, DVD-RAMs are like removable hard disks, and the media can be rewritten 100,000 times compared to 1,000 times for DVD-RW and DVD+RW. The first DVD-RAM drives with a capacity of 2.6GB (single sided) or 5. or DVD-ROM DVD-ROM: see digital versatile disc. A read-only DVD disc used to permanently store data files. DVD-ROM discs are widely used to distribute large software applications that exceed the capacity of a CD-ROM disc. drive (IDE or SCSI SCSI in full Small Computer System Interface Once common standard for connecting peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, etc.) to small and medium-sized computers. SCSI has given way to faster standards, such as Firewire and USB. )," stated William Wong, Sigma's vice president of marketing. "We are excited to announce our Windows NT and DirectShow support at DVD-Day, hosted by Panasonic. Panasonic is one of the first companies to produce an economical, high-performance rewritable, removable drive that is in full compliance with the DVD Forum's DVD-RAM specifications and standards. Combining Panasonic's drive with our low-cost REALmagic silicon for DVD decoding makes digital video archiving and playback more affordable to everyone," Wong concluded. In addition to being approved by the DVD Forum, which has grown to more than 160 members, the DVD-RAM format has been adopted by the Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS JIS Japanese Industrial Standard JIS Jamaica Information Service JIS Juggling Information Service JIS Just in Sequence (automotive industry) JIS Jakarta International School JIS Joint Information System ) and the European Computer Manufacturers' Association (ECMA (European Computer Manufacturers Association, Geneva, Switzerland, www.ecma-international.org) An international association founded in 1961 that is dedicated to establishing standards in the information and communications fields. ). The standard has also been endorsed by the Hollywood DVD Advisory Group, more than 20 of the industry's leading PC manufacturers, and leading international content developers. Industry analysts project that by the year 2000, more than 70 million DVD drives and players will be installed and that more than 30 million of these units will be DVD-RAM drives. About Sigma Designs: Sigma Designs entered the multimedia market in 1993 with products based on the MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) An ISO/ITU standard for compressing digital video. Pronounced "em-peg," it is the universal standard for digital terrestrial, cable and satellite TV, DVDs and digital video recorders (DVRs). (Motion Picture Experts Group (spelling) Motion Picture Experts Group - Incorrect expansion of MPEG, which stands for Moving Picture Experts Group. ) standard for compressing and decompressing digital audio and video signals. Since then, Sigma has been a driving force behind advancement of the MPEG technology used in most multimedia products on the market today. Sigma Designs' products include affordable MPEG video and audio decoding hardware. All Sigma Designs' products are sold worldwide through a network of dealers, distributors, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). For additional information, call 800-845-8086 or 510-770-0100, fax 510-770-2640, or visit Sigma's web site at http://www.sigmadesigns.com This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the PC-DVD market and the features and potential growth prospects of certain DVD/MPEG-2 products offered by the Company in this market, that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results of Sigma Designs may vary materially due to a number of factors including, but not limited to, the levels of orders from and the risk of cancellation of orders by significant customers, the ability of the Company's REALmagic EM8300 DVD/MPEG-2 decoder to compete with other technologies in this emerging market, the risk that such product will not gain widespread acceptance or will be rendered obsolete by product offerings of competitors or by alternative technologies, and the risk that the Company will not meet price or time-to-market estimates due to production, manufacturing, or other delays. Editors and Analysts: For further information, photographs and interviews please contact Marken Communications.
CONTACT: Marken Communications (Media Contact)
Andy Marken, 408/986-0100
marken@cerf.net
or
Sigma Designs Inc. (Investor Relations Contact)
Carol Kaplan, 510/770-2991
carol_kaplan@sdesigns.com
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